Baniyani, July 6
Paddy plantation has been adversely affected due to inadequate rainfall in Jhapa district. It is already the third week of Asar month, the time paddy plantation used to go in full swing, but farmers have been worried over the scant rainfall.
A farmer Ratan Kumar Bhulel from Haldibari-6 said, “We used to be done with paddy plantation this time. Last year, I had completed it by this time.” For lack of irrigation, Bhulel like others has to depend on monsoon rains for rice plantation. Tilling 1.5 bighas of land, he shared the plight that there was no alternative for irrigation either.
The rice seedling is drying up with scorching heat. The district has recorded only 14 percent paddy plantation so far, while it would have completed some 25 percent in normal time of sufficient rainfall. However, an officer at Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Chetraj Bhandari, informed that farmers were using electric motor to pump underground water for irrigation, so the cultivation would increase now onwards.
Meanwhile, the district has been facing the recurring problem- the shortage of chemical fertilizer this year too. Chief of Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Sagar Bista, admitted that farmers were complaining of unavailability of fertilizer though it was essential at present.
Bista informed that Jhapa needs 12,000 metric tons of DPA and 14,000 tons of urea fertilizer, which is in sheer short supply. Only 10 percent of chemical fertilisers is available. He suggested increasing use of compost to reduce dependency on chemical fertilizers by 40 percent. It has also been reported that production of spring paddy (chaite dhan) is reducing gradually.
